Good stuff, even if you're not a big soccer fan. I've been consistently impressed by these 30 for 30 episodes that ESPN does. The latest one on soccer stories is no different.
Anyone watching these?
Tonight was two 30-minute stories. The first about Diego Maradona and the second about the 1973 coup de etat in Chile and their national team trying to get to the World Cup.
I watched the one on Hillsborough last week, which was two hours long. I knew a lot about that tragedy, but I still learned a lot from that piece and got to see it from a whole different angle. I thought they did an excellent job. I'd highly recommend checking it out if you have the time.
Yep, the Hillsborough one was superb - amazing just a few short years ago the "murderers murderers" chants could still be heard from opposition fans about Hillsborough, directed at Liverpool. That's how deep that lie seeped into the public consciousness. If you want one cheif reason (among many) why Rupert Murdoch is so despised in Britain, Hillsborough would be it. The reporting by The Sun newspaper about Hillsborough was despicable, not that far above the actions of the high-ranking police in the disaster.
Been trying to track down the Magico Gonzalez one that was broadcast a few weeks ago, but can't get it anywhere.
Watched the Diego Maradona one, which wasn't particularly special. But, the Chile one was nicely done. You could see the guilt some of those players had about being on the field for the farce against Soviet Union. However, it's obvious they didn't have a choice. I watched the Ireland one too, I wasn't aware of the story of the murders, but I kind of felt like it needed to be longer. 30 minutes just didn't seem like enough time for the story, it felt very incomplete. Ultimately 30 for 30 has been such an incredible series, the soccer ones have been mixed, but the Hillsborough and Chile films have been quite good.
The best current video of Maradona going around is the youtube stuff of his 86 World Cup stuff from every game. Think there's roughly about an hour of footage from that tournament from each of his games. The level of skill displayed is insane, especially when you consider the number of times defenders attempt to end his career. Still in my mind the very best player of all time and no one else really comes close. This is not to say there aren't great players around right now for example, but that there really always will only be one Maradona, even more remarkable he was a one sided player.
I caught the chilean/allende one. good stuff!
For all US soccer fans, make sure to tune in this Tuesday evening at 7:00. They're showing a 30 for 30 on the US Mens National Team.
Wow, I watched it last night and had no idea of the cover up that took place. Like in the minds of most, from what I had been told, it was due to fans with no tickets being able to get in (I hadn't heard of the drinking angle).Originally Posted by Soberphobia
Some really poignant moments in that documentary from the folks and cops. I even felt bad for the poor politician who was sent to the 20th anniversary to make a speach to the kop.
RIP
I think they should also do one of these for Heysel;to be honest Liverpool fans there were much more culpable than anything that happened at Hillsborough, though simply saying Liverpool fans murdered Juve fans is just far to simplistic given it was a wall collapse that was responsible for the fatalities. Shows you how bad things were at stadiums across Europe that it took disasters like these for safe modern arenas to be built for fans to follow their favourite team.
Last edited by Soberphobia; 05-12-2014 at 12:26 PM.
You should check the other 30 for 30 series if you haven't already. There's a ton of them on You Tube, brilliant documentaries on other sports.
Cheers, I will, I actually didn't realise they were on youtube.
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